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posting it in black&white bc it's bloody but heyyyy look at my new tattoo!!
#i officially have a naruto tattoo lmaooo#it's sai's super beast imitation drawing hehe <3 because i've been in love with this guy for 15 years#it only took 2.5h!!! we were both surprised#now i'm chilling at the hotel but i need to go out to buy food... it's hell outside so i don't feel motivated š« #k.txt#my dream came true aaaaaah#idc what people think of this tattoo it looks cool as hell to me
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"Hiyo! I'm gonna talk more about the 1st layer. Last time I talked to Shekinah about the two warring Kingdoms but are they the only places that represent a sin? Nope, they aren't. So I'll talk about everywhere but where I live in particular."
"Honestly none of these places have an official name because I've yet to name them. The City of Greed, the gamblers paradise. Where one can be honest to themselves about their greed for any fancy food, weapons, money, you name it. Reason I call it a gamblers paradise is because there's so many casinos there but everyone careful with their money so its fine. Yes, hell uses money, its a hell wide currency called and I kid you not Devi's. They just took Devil and took out the l. I just call it hell coin or hell dollars if its in dollar bill form. Like, I'm still arguing with everyone on what to call it."
That argument she doesn't see ending anytime soon.
"Next up! The Metropolis of Conflict, everyone with anger issues lives there. Besides myself anyway. Its not the Metropolis of Wrath because everyone can be pretty chill when not bashing each others heads in. My armory likes escaping to there so they can get some use. But its not my fault there's very little I'd bring them out against in Hell, its pointless to wield them in my own domain."
"Another case of not named after a sin despite the majority is the relaxing fields, you'll find people lazing around there. Of course for people who prefer being inside there are hotels with plenty of rooms. Now why isn't the place named after Sloth? Ruin anyone lazy moment and they can get as angry as the Metropolis of Conflict. It's funny to watch. Especially when the two are on such good terms anyone who sets off the Relaxing Fields instantly has a hit put out on them by the Metropolis of Conflict."
"I'm not talking about the Country of Lust. All I'll say is, Rirune be welcomed there with open arms. Especially by all the shapeshifters. But those with a lust for life and such go there too. ...By the way for those with a lust for battle or are battle hungry before I go over the next place they just live in the Metropolis of Conflict. It saves them a trip."
"Next is for well the food type of Gluttony. I had to tell them no, they can't call it Hell's Kitchen, I know what they're referencing and I am not allowing that. Anyway, everyone just call it Chef City because with how much they like to eat. Well like a certain friend of mines, they learned to cook all types of dishes. They had a lot of time on their hand, eternity and all."
"I wish there was somewhere for Vanity. Instead my appearance is considered the 'most magnificent in hell' or something along those lines and its instead is a trading hub for pictures of me. I punched God for laughing at that fact. Its also people who are well very familiar with 'idol' culture like Kpop, Vtubers, you know what I mean. I am regularly confiscating the photos sold. Even some of the angels from Heaven drop by to buy some. How? When did they get any of the currency used in Hell?! Well actually I know the answer to that but that's on me for turning a blind eye to angels talking to their relatives in Hell while I talk to God."
"Okay enough on stuff that makes me want to go punch someone I know is laughing up in Heaven, I can hear y-That is not an excuse to laugh harder. Anyway, while there are plenty of other places I could talk about but that would never end. I'll just say there's a place for 'everyone' on the first layer and I do mean everyone. I make new places as new type of people end up down here."
"Now if you excuse me, I need to go blow up God."
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Currently making a rain code oc
I made a lot of design iterations and I'm still not sure of their outside clothes, but I'm pretty satisfied with their indoor clothes for now.
I usually don't take character design, especially when it comes to clothing, seriously so I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with! There are so many designs I tried out...
Lots of Infomation About Them Under The Cut
Name: Ashen Dawnbreaker Forte: Digitalized History Age: 19 Birthday: June 22 Blood Type: -O Gender: Non-binary Pronouns: They/Them Sexuality: Bisexual Demiromantic Height: 160cm Weight: 65kg Likes: Coffee, Reading Fiction Dislikes: Raining when Outside, Hot Weather Love Languages: Quality Time, Acts of Service, Giving Gifts
Ashen Dawnbreaker
A Master Detective send to Kanai Ward to solve Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret. Currently, they are living in the Sun & Moon Hotel and work for the Nocturnal Detective Agency with the rest of the Master Detectives dispatched to Kanai Ward and survived the Massacre.
Usually quiet and reserved, they don't seek out mysteries to solve unlike other detectives. Opting to rather chill in the Agency with Vivia and Yakou and read things on their phone. (Which they thankfully were able to smuggle inside of Kanai Ward under the Peackeepers' noses along with gel pepper spray)
With an effective Forte like theirs, they're not too keen on doing actual detective work. Using their Forte to solve the case once they have taken a picture of the crime scene and know the time of death of the victim. They don't see the point of trying when their Forte would just do all the work.
Frankly, it makes them feel like they don't actually deserve to be called a Master Detective despite being one unlike the other Master Detectives.
They are a bit of foodie however. Buying snacks and bringing it to the Agency when needed. And even trying their hands on cooking for the Agency despite not being a great cook. (It's not the best ever food, but it's delicious and edible even if it does need a bit of rice to counteract the heavy flavors. But it's certainly better than whatever Yuma makes)
...weirdly enough... they don't touch any of the meat buns for some reason.... Never having once taken the duty to buy Yakou his meat buns.
Also, they're Autistic. Which is a very big part of their character.
Digitalized History
A Forte that allows the User to see the past movements of living beings in a set area that has been digitally photographed in a limited amount of time.
They can see the silhouettes of living beings as they move around, however they are unable to see their identity. And objects not captured in the digital photograph won't appear when they use their Forte. Making them unable to see any objects that were moving or being used during that time.
Currently, they use their phone to capture pictures of locations in Kanai Ward for later use. Changing the time and date, and setting a timer on their phone before they use their Forte to give them focus.
Without their phone, their innate ability to see the past movements of living beings won't be as effective as a Forte. Being too unfocused to focus on a specific time and location to use.
The current limit of their Forte usage is 30 minutes.
Overuse of their Forte gives them headaches and light sensitivity.
LOADING SCREEN TRIVIA
Ashen's Lollipop The only lollipop they buy from is a specific brand, chocolate milk and strawberry milk being their favorite flavors. They loathe other lollipop brands and never try them.
Ashen's Coffee Despite not needing coffee daily to function, they're very particular with how they make their coffee. Especially the temperature. So they don't trust others to make their coffee for them. Messing up their coffee when they decide to indulge is a surefire way to annoy them.
Ashen's Meals Homecooked meals is a very important thing for them. So despite not being the best cook, they make their own meals when they have the energy and time instead of going to a restaurant. It reminds them of home, and sharing their meals with the Nocturnal Detective Agency is another added bonus.
Ashen's Phone The notes app is filled with writings about past conversations they had with the rest of the Agency. They like reading back on it sometimes.
Ashen's Hair Their natural hair color is violet. However, they dyed their hair black to blend more with the crowd. At least, that's what they tell to others. The underside of their hair isn't dyed, showing the beautiful natural color of their hair.
Ashen's Photos Before they found out about their Forte, they loved taking pictures of nature and the scenery. Especially the sunset sky. However, they're uncomfortable with taking pictures of other people and buildings. They never knew why until they found out about their Forte.
#may asher rambles#rain code#rain code spoilers#rain code oc#they have another symbol/design on the back of their cloak that shows their Forte but it's not shown#considering the fact I'm the one running raincode-archives and currently archiving the loading screen trivia first#it's probably shouldn't be surprising you can glean more information about them from the loading screen trivias lol#yes they're technically me and I love them <3#cringe culture is dead#their height is so perfect for giving Makoto forehead kisses
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guess who's alive? exactly, me!! :D *slumps down and never gets up* (sorry in advance this will be quite the long ask >_<)
i get the feeling of fried brain, my session just finished ;-; #neveragain (wish i could say it for real tho) it's not a problem if you can't add much ahah, really, so don't worry :3
i feel you, my rbf isn't of any help but luckily those who receive my love know it and about the rest i don't care Ā°vĀ° and as i said (i think) as long as you're genuine i don't think that's a problem, honestly is what matters ^u^
yeah i noticed the game and noticed only now i forgot to ask you a question but now head is empty so whatever š« if you say so then brb gonna go buy pencils for xiao and you so you can fill each other's skin with drawings and writings eheh~
me too honestly, i just need to relax, eat good food and sleep for hours trapping the indigo menace in a cuddling hug >:3 for movies i'm down bad for pixar but indie and artsy sounds good too š and slow dancing at night is just something sooo cute and sosksiskdjsjskwj i'm down bad pt2
we can agree that villainous fictional men >>>>>>>>> goody two-shoes hero, but morally grey characters deserve a mention of honor, a whole hall just for them @^@
NOW, ONTO THE NEW MODERN SERIES FIC FUCK I'M SO EIDJWKSNDKWJWOSJSIHS
childe you cocky little menace with that shit-eating grin š¤ŗ i love this type of grin it sends me on cloud nine but also actives my fighting spirit lmao
i loved every word and the implicit mention of scara's partner and childe's being colleagues, what a chaos putting those two in the same room because of their lovers (saw the other asks, died of laughter)
it had me going š when reader went "one coffee for the mystery man" LIKE MAN THE AUDACITY i would have prayed the universe to swallow me especially after ginger's reply folsdoodsj so good really
also, a curiosity: since you mentioned yanqing (my son <3) does this mean that gi and hsr men will interact more often, being in the same universe? tbh knowing some characters either they will get along well or a big fight would start the moment they see each other pfft-
anyway, i think that i covered everything so that's all! as always, take care, drink water and coffee, eat healthy and sleep well at night, you can do this! and good luck with uni :3
bye bye~
ā āļø
hii great to see you back and good job on surviving!! iāll put the answer under a cut for brevityās sake haha
well i hope i sound and look genuine bc sometimes i feel like i donāt and if i try to sound more excited, people would probably think iām faking it; but yeah my friends probably know by now how i act so i think i should be good :>
donāt force yourself to participate if you canāt come up with something, i promise i still have enough material to go through (me, typing a novel for a mootās entry /aff); whenever i doodle on my arm i normally just use ball point pens or eyeliners but i also saw people using like actual colours for painting/body paint and i really want to try that; having someone drag a brush and paint over your back must be such a funny feeling <3
iām not watching a lot of films right now, so i canāt say what my favourite genre is but i do love a good animation (i still need to see the new spiderman aaahhh); speaking of going to the cinema: thereās sth so special about going there during daytime and coming back out when itās dark outside; imagine walking home after the film with your fave, he gives you his jacket against the chill of the evening and you laugh and joke as you discuss the film you just saw until he gently grabs your hand and starts twirling you around under the light of a street lampā¦ *sigh* what a dream (frantically scribbles into my notes for the modern au hshsh)
i just think villains and morally grey characters just are much more fun to explore; would i want hazbin hotelās alastor to be real or would i like him if i met him? no because he is/was a serial killer, but in fiction? fascinating, intriguing, fun to explore; fiction just gives us the means to explore these morally not so cool actions and mindsets without most of the consequences, and i love that (also it really is sexy if a bad guy drops everything for their love; who wouldnāt want to be their partnerās priority; also also, villains with their own set of moral code, like āsure iāll burn down a city but hit a woman? i would neverā)
childe activates my fighting spirit in general, like come over here and letās bicker, you gorgeous idiot, and maybe iāll kiss you afterwards <3 and also yes that grinā¦ it might be here bc of the writerās biasā¦
i just had to make them colleagues!! please just imagine them gossiping about their bfs after work or during the double date the readers are just talking the night away whereas childe and scara just have this icy atmosphere around them, but the second their partners look over they melt bc theyāre just so in love dorks, all of them
and omg yes, thank you for mentioning it, iāve been dying for someone to point it out: itās official, itās a genshin/honkai shared au!! itāll be mostly genshin with some hsr characters but yes!! theyāre sharing the same universe, they will be interacting (now we wait for someone to mention the company vizion is signed underā¦ i wonder who works thereā¦ /silly)
thank you, make sure to take care of yourself as well!! <3
#āā©å½” divine correspondence ā”#āā©å½” cherished guests ā”#āā©å½” letter from ā āļø anon ā”#hey tumblr stop deleting my tags#iām not keen on redoing them all the time#āhollyās modern au ā©å½”
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How would Slachers react to a reader who is allergic to peanuts, but enjoys eating mainly together with other foods such as chocolate and thus gets a fever and gets sick easily.
(I have this type of allergy and I'm always getting scolded by my friends for it)
Please be careful with this hun!
-Fernšæ
S/O With Mild Peanut Allergy
Michael Myers
He canāt blame you because he would do the same thing. Everyone knows that this man has a major sweet tooth. However, Michael will still act like youāre stupid and leave you to fend for yourself.
After all, youāre the one who decided to eat something you know you shouldnāt, thatās on you. He has better things to do than sit around and take care of you. Besides, even if he wanted to he really doesnāt know how.
The first time you do this though he panics a little bit. Michael will let you think heās left you behind when in reality heās watching you from the shadows to make sure youāre okay.
Please donāt do it often, he canāt handle it. Heāll never admit it, but he does kind of rely on you now that youāre a permanent part of his life. Whoās going to make him food if you canāt? Looks like youāll both just have to starve until you feel better.
Bo Sinclair
Bo has finally found someone more careless and reckless than him and he doesnāt know how to handle it. Doesnāt understand why you do it but low key kind of respects it.
Sometimes when Bo is stressed and you eat things you shouldnāt heāll get angry and lash out. Now he has to deal with victims and a sick s/o, thatās just great aināt it. What are you going to do if someone break in, huh y/n? You canāt fight with a fever.
Because of this, Bo takes to hiding anything with peanuts in it whenever heās tired or busy. That way you canāt add on to the list of problems he has to take care of in Ambrose.
Bo is also an ass and makes a big deal out of taking care of you. Heās full of snarky comments and smart ass remarks. Secretly enjoys the feeling of you needing him though.
Vincent Sinclair
You scare him. He doesnāt understand it and is highly against it. Anytime he sees you with a bar of chocolate he snatches it away and tosses it. What a waste of a perfectly good candy bar :/
Has no sympathy for you when you start feeling feverish. You know you canāt have it and you know what it does to you y/n, this is your own fault.
Still, he wants to keep an eye on you so youāll be tucked into his bed down in his workshop while he gives you the cold shoulder for making yourself miserable.
Luckily the workshop is warm and cozy with all of the candles, the fire, and the warm blankets so you wonāt have to worry about those feverish chills. And while Vincent may not be giving you any attention, at least you have Jonesy to snuggle up with and keep you entertained.
Thomas Hewitt
He will hide anything and everything from you so that you canāt eat it and make yourself sick. He doesnāt have the time to be worrying over you y/n, please stop doing this.
When you do get sick he does his best to ignore you and not have any pity for you. Thomas always caves though, he just cares about you to much and hates seeing you be miserable.
Luda Mae will scold you for it though and make sure that anything you eat doesnāt have any peanuts. Sheās in charge of the cooking so she does a pretty good job of not letting you get sick.
Thomas may not talk but heās still very good at expressing himself. You can expect plenty of glares and angry hand gestures while heās throwing blankets over you and placing a cold rag on your forehead.
Brahms Heelshire
Heās outraged. Why would you be making yourself sick when you have to take care of him! Youāre being paid to take care of him and now heās having to take care of you. How selfish, y/n!
Anything with peanuts will be hidden from the kitchen and stashed within the walls so that you canāt make yourself sick anymore. You have to follow the schedule and you being sick gets in the way of that.
If he has to, Brahms will add that you canāt have chocolate to the list of rules. After all, you do have to follow the rules.
If you talk Malcolm into bringing you a candy bar then Brahms will most likely get violent. Poor Malcolm didnāt know but Brahmsy doesnāt care. Youāre breaking the rules, on purpose! That wonāt work for him, youāll have to be punished.
Billy Loomis
Takes chocolate off of the movie night snack list. But only for you, heāll eat what you crave right in front of you with no remorse.
Whenever you manage to get ahold of something with peanuts in it he just mocks you. You did this to yourself after all, itās not his fault. Itās not his responsibility to take care of you.
Doesnāt even mind if you make yourself sick. That just gives him an excuse to go about his illegal hobbies without needing to come up with an excuse as to why he canāt come over. After all, he doesnāt want to be around someone with a fever.
Heās the worst one considering he doesnāt even make an effort to try to stop you and has no remorse for you whatsoever when you get sick.
Stu Macher
Clings to you 24/7 and will spontaneously combust if he doesnāt so no y/n no chocolate or peanut butter or anything for you. If youāre sick he canāt drag you all over the place with him and thatās just not going to work.
If you manage to sneak something without him knowing he gets upset and complains about it. Still, he hates seeing you feel bad and will wrap you up in blankets on the couch.
The one time he caught you eating a candy bar he snatched it out of your hand and finished it himself. Just because you canāt have chocolate doesnāt mean that he canāt.
Feels bad that you canāt have one of your favorite snacks so on movie nightās heāll buy you any snacks you want that donāt contain peanuts. But donāt try and take his chocolate away, he might love you but he will throw hands over a chocolate bar.
Jesse Cromeans
He has cameras covering every inch of his house. If you do anything heās going to know about it so good luck trying to get ahold of anything that you shouldnāt have.
If you still manage to get ahold of something that you shouldnāt have itās not a big deal. He has medical professionals on speed dial and plenty of capable people to watch over you.
Donāt expect Jesse to come home from a business trip just because you ate chocolate though. He canāt always drop everything to take care of you.
Still when he returns home to find you bundle up and shivering under a pile of blankets he caves in and spends time taking care of you
Asa Emory
Thinks itās the stupidest thing ever and makes sure that you know it. Asa has better things to do than babysit an adult.
If he keeps you chained up in his hotel itās not really like you have much of a say in what you get to eat. You can consume the scraps youāre given or starve, Asa doesnāt care which one you choose.
The first time you have an allergic reaction in the hotel while Asa is contemplating turning you into his house wife, youāll notice that youāre never given anything with peanuts again.
#slashers#slasher x reader#slasher x you#slasher hcs#michael myers x reader#michael myers#bo sinclair x reader#bo sinclair#vincent sinclair x reader#vincent sinclair#thomas hewitt x reader#thomas hewitt#brahms heelshire x reader#brahms heelshire#the boy x reader#billy loomis x reader#billy loomis#stu macher x reader#stu macher#ghostface x reader#ghostface#jesse cromeans x reader#jesse cromeans#chromeskull x reader#chromeskull#asa emory x reader#asa emory#the collector x reader#the collector
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Stop 2 : Penang! I didn't know much to anything about this island off the coast of Malaysia before entering the country. A bit of cursory Wikipedia research labelled this part of town as The Silicon Valley of the East, but simultaneously a backpackers paradise of unspoilt old town and charm filled cheap cafes. Like if Starbucks moved in but was best pals with your local neighbourhood cake shops instead of mercilessly grinding them to dust. I was excited for this; sounded like a vibe.
Arriving we've been greeted much more by the latter old town sort of thing, given we are staying in that part of town. This is the only kinda place where i've seen the "people on bikes" graffiti genre veer as far one way as Bansky and as far the other way as "just put mr Bean on the bike and more people will stay at the hotel". It's a beautiful place. Slow. Feels almost too quiet right now but this is a world only just post COVID. There's some way to go before what's 'normal' is back I guess. Places like this got hit bad by having to close their business for 3 years. It shows, there's a lot of shut up places. Man, it's not even just Covid, you can see the effects of the 2004 Tsunami out by the beaches. It's dumb to expect recovery from this stuff quickly and I'm glad they're open up again and the money comes back to rebuild. I'm kinda grateful to be here at all.
One thing I am not grateful for. Durian. I once left a bag of potatoes in a cupboard over a kettle for close to a year in a student flat. Over time the steam liquidised the potatoes as they gradually putrefied naturally. The smell at the end of it was close to something between death and a deep wet mould. Durian is the only thing close to that smell, and it is everywhere. It's actually banned in many public places yet appears so delicious inside that despite these things being on every street corner, & this making you appreciate how bad the whole world must smell in the Walking Dead, everyone love the taste too much to choose not to have corpse stench lightly permeate the air at all times. Good for them. I admire that mental strength. I hate durians.
We did domestic duties early on arrival. Getting the washing done, scouting around and sitting down at Tek Sen for some really good Chinese food. The adaptation from Singapore dollars to Malaysian Ringitt has taken some brain adjustments that's hard to demonstrate without reconverting everything into pounds and realising a beer now costs Ā£1.80, not Ā£7. A meal Ā£2.82, not Ā£20+. The budget might be ok after all. It's taken a lot of work and heart rending "oh god, we need a cheap day tomorrow, this is going to tip is past our average" before realising that a 90 ringitt meal is Ā£16 and no, it's fine, you probably spend that on an aperol Spritz on a bad day back home. Chill.
Day 2 was eventful. We took the bus out to the national park via a breakfast stop off at the Toh Soon cafe. Toh Soon was a lovely little spot, but with a hell of a queue early in the morning. I felt a pang of home-sickness in that queue when the Malaysian man in front of us shouted "FUCKS SAKE" all of a sudden, apropos of nothing. It's a curiously English phrase when I think about it. I don't think i've ever heard it in another accent before.
We got a portion each of Nasi Lemak and Kaya Toast on a couple of different breads, washing everything down with the customary condensed milk laden coffee that I still can't shake the feeling is going to give me diabetes by the end of this trip. All excellent, still not a bad meal here. Because South East Asia is possibly situated next to some great cosmic steam vent, I immediately needed more fluids before the hour long bus ride so we dropped into 7/11. The door played what, on first listen might sound to the corporate morons who decreed this inflicted punishment on the poor staff who have to listen to this song everyday, to be a 'cheerful welcoming melody'. I heard this cheerful welcoming melody 6 times while in the shop buying one drink for something like 5 minutes. Some quick sums; and the poor man working behind the counter is probably there for a minimum of 8 hours a day. He must have heard that welcome jingle a minimum of 576 times in a day. If he works all week, even if it's a 5 day week, he will hear that jingle 2880 times. The suicide rate is remarkably low when considering this.
We hurtled onwards to Penang park after this interlude at 800 mph on the public bus. Seeing corners only as challenges to travel faster. When arriving, we geared up for a big hike (1 hour 15!!) to Turtle Beach, or Pentai Kerachut. We booked a return boat trip, because we're all allowed our little luxuries (and they take you to see the monkeys, come on). Walking through the jungle, you're hit by a wall of humidity and ants. You experience that true sweat that is only reserved for humid climes. The kind where things like your lip and the top of your arms even start sweating when you forgot they could. It's a lovely hike all things considered though, not too strenuous and some gorgeous beach and jungle scenery before you reach the meromictic lake where freshwater meets salt and the two are too different in density to mix. The colours are gorgeous and if you're lucky you'll see them form whirlpools twirling, ever twirling towards freedom.
We got out past the lake onto the beach and played our new favourite beach game "why can't I swim here", is it something that can kill me? Raw sewage? Perhaps lethal waves or a small undersea cliff? Well today it was multiple of these, so we stayed out of the water and continued on to the turtle sanctuary, seeing and reading about the egg laying cycles of the giant turtles on these beaches who need utter quiet, calm and peace, without any bright light to lay their eggs, or they'll simply turn back around and return to the see if they're disturbed. If you lived 100+ years, you'd think time was on your side too.
One of the things I have noticed dating a Spaniard, is that, there's a hell of a lot of Spaniards. I have found them as far aflung as the Premier Inn near Birmingham International, Westminster, local bakers in small english towns, and now here, on a boat in the middle of Malaysia, a group of 5 Catalonians became immediate best friends with Mariola because this is what Spaniards do. They were great company on the way to Monkey beach. Much friendlier than the second boat where I was nearly turfed off by a lady who insisted she had booked the entire boat privately for her family. Ah well. If Brits can do anything well, it's obstinately stand your ground when a small piece of official paper tells you you're in the right. So we stayed on that damn boat.
We had however spent all of our bus money on crisps on Monkey beach. This was a mistake & one I do not encourage. We needed to walk 5km to various hotels imploring people to try and call us cabs and furiously refreshing Grab. After multiple tries, an argument with 2 bus drivers eating dinner and a short rest in a 5 star hotel car park, we were saved by the lovely valet staff of the hotel Ansanga who managed to find us a cab home. This was 10x more expensive than the bus. Please learn from our mistakes and resist those island crisps. Keep some cash handy at all times!
We rounded off the day once we got back and showered with a late dinner at Tem Xim (Penang surprisingly has pretty limited food options past 9pm.. the local population prefers rising early and eating earlier.. look to eat between 6-8pm for the best options!)
The woman who owns Tem Xim, a thai charcoal bbq joint, is likely on some sort of wall somewhere alongside Mother Theresa, Marie Curie & Florence Nightingale. The woman's an artist at hospitality. She saw two floundering hangry westerners staring at chili sauce in beffudlement as to whether it would blow our face off or not and took pity. She was particularly informative and nice in helping us around the menu and it's one of the better dining experiences I think we'll have all trip not just for the quality of food, but also how genuinely kind everyone was. You can tell she does this a lot by the fact she's racked up 300+ 5* Google reviews, most of which mention her explicitly. Good on ya love, you've got one more from me. Hit up Tem Xim anyone reading this and visiting Georgetown.
Our last full day took us from our original plans to go to Penang Hill onto the Kek Lok Si temple instead because, oh boy, when it rains here, it rains. We had a pretty fantastic trip around all things considered and it's a stunning temple, only recently built in the 19th century, but built to impress with grand enormous 70ft tall statues, 7 story pagodas and seals of approval from Beijing about its status amongst Chinese temples. It's well worth a visit and if you want to you could combined it with a trip to Penang Hill to get the views quite easily for a jam packed day. We then did the customary 'eat absolutely everything' food tour, hitting up all the local favourites of Wanton Mee, Char Kaoy Teow, Apom, Lok Lok and Cendol because we are those people, and try and keep me away from weird novelty food. I will eat you.
It's been hard to get away from a fact that Penang doesn't feel quite recovered yet. There's people here, but it feels a bit stunted. Like the energy is yet to return fullly as the place isn't quite full. It's wonderful for a bit of pece and the lack of crowds is something we should be happy about but Georgetown is definitely somewhere I could feel like you could appear, without a purpose, without a clear sense of anything, and have a wicked time simply being. Come for 2 weeks, forget about everything, eat like a king for Ā£3 and forget life happens outside this island. It's back to city life in Kuala Lumpur after this, but i've liked this sleepy little town and recommend it to anyone.
Signing off - DW
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Tuesday 9.21.21
I feel like it's been a week since I got here. I've walked probably 20 miles in the last three days. Let's see where to start.
Sunday morning I went to Costa's for coffee and breakfast, apparently it's a big coffee chain here. Around lunch time, I went to meet a friend K (I will shorten all names for confidentiality) from my cohort on LSE campus. I'd never been on it before!
We immediately left and walked across the bridge to Southwark (pronounced Suthark, apparently). It was drizzling and everything was pretty grey, it felt pretty enchanting in a dreary London kind of way. The whole south bank of the river around there is super built up, it feels like the Yards or the Wharf in DC near where I'm from.
We eventually ended up at Ristorante Olivelli for lunch, we both really felt like having pasta for some reason. It was a cute restaurant. We meandered around Vauxhall and then crossed the river again toward Pimlico, and we walked by Big Ben (I hope my gold production is now increased by 25% [hah, Civ 5 reference]) and Westminster Abbey. Big Ben was mostly blocked by scaffolding. Eventually, I split off and took the train back up to Tufnell Park. For dinner, I ate granola out of a whisky tumbler with a fork, so that's the type of life I'm pursuing now.
On Monday, I went to meet my friend N from the cohort at LSE campus. He had literally just arrived from NYC, and couldn't check into his hotel until later. We walked around LSE campus a bit more, and both bought some LSE clothing/etc at the school store. It's funny, a lot of the buildings are quite modern, but the way they're all tucked in together, it still feels kind of like a medieval street. Lots of cobblestone-ish roads, no real quad like I'm so used to at UChicago or Columbia (though I only spent a couple months at the latter, and I always found that campus to be not terribly welcoming).
I wanted to go to the bookstore Hatchards in Picadilly, which I thought would be a 15 minute walk. Instead, I dragged my friend on a like 40-minute march (keep in mind, this man just got off a red-eye flight to a country five timezones away from home). We made it, and I bought two books that looked related to my dissertation subject.
We were supposed to do a lot of work on that this summer and I did none, because I needed a five month break from that truly exhausting nine-month slog of virtual class and quarantine isolation. Anyway, we chilled at a Caffe Nero nearby for a while, then I left and bought a tennis racket+balls and a basketball at Lillywhites nearby. Yesterday afternoon, I bought some plants. I'll be filling my apartment with as many as possible while I'm here. Pictures soon.
Yesterday evening, I wanted to try this Ethiopiean restaurant Lalibela on Fortress Rd nearby, but I stood outside for like 20 minutes after their supposed opening time of 6, and they never flipped the closed sign to open. I also realized I was slightly under-dressed wearing only a tank top and shorts. So I walked across the street and ordered from Blue Moon Thai instead. While I was waiting, I went over to Sainsburys to buy a few things, and I think the security guard thought I was a suspicious loiterer because he followed me around most of the time I was in there.
I forget what else I did yesterday, but I went to sleep at 10-ish and actually slept through the whole night!! Which is a big deal, because the first night I woke up at 1 am and fell asleep again like an hour later. And then Monday night I woke up at 2ish and proceeded to text one of my friend, L, until like 3:45 am.
This morning, I walked over to Rustique Cafe, on Fortress Rd right near all the other things on Fortress Rd that I talk about. Inside, they have a bunch of bookshelves and all the books are for sale. And you can walk out the back and sit in a wonderful garden they have.
I also saw a cute cat walking around outside my building.
I got a cappuccino (UK cappuccinos always seem to be like 12-16oz, a traditional capp is supposed to be 8 lmao). Also, it has just become apparent to me that tumblr or Firefox spell-check does not recognize cappuccino as a word. It's 2021, boys.
Today, I might my friend K came up to Tufnell park because she was thinking about trying to get a room in my building. We walked to Workman's Cafe (where I went the first day I was here) and got lunch, which was cute. I like the vibe. When we were paying at the counter, I asked the guy if I could tip them and he stared at me for like 10 seconds. Apparently, tipping isn't really a thing here. Also, I'd been wanting to get a picture of the train tracks from the bridge near my apartment for a few days. Got it today. It makes me think of Persona.
We then walked all the way down Fortress Rd, which eventually becomes Kentish Town Road, to Camden. My best description of Camden is that it's basically like the Greenwich Village of London, with some Times Square elements on a couple blocks. Parts of it were really cool, other parts were cheapo London/Britain knick-knacks shops that looked like they belonged in wherever the equivalent of Midtown NYC is in London. We walked by this cool lock on the way.
We went to an anime store!!! that she found called Japan Craft. Manga shelves took up like half the store, and they had some posters, t-shirts, and figurines as well. And for some reason, some Harry Potter merchandise? Anyway, I didn't buy anything, but that's probably the best manga selection I've ever seen short of Kinokuni-ya in NYC, so I want to go back. And somehow, I forgot to take any pictures.
Afterwards, we walked over to this Italian Cafe to get coffee, and instead got a RosƩ (K) and Peroni (me). I also had a Portuguese custard pastry. I'm too tired to remember the name of this cafe, but it was cute. We toured another apartment she's looking at near there, then I walked all the way back up to my apartment.
And immediately got changed and got on the tube back down south to LSE campus again, to meet my friend C who flew in yesterday! After a brief tour of LSE campus, I led her too on a long and partly unguided walk through Picadilly and Soho, and we eventually landed at Kissaten bubble tea shop right near Chinatown. I definitely got us lost because I wasn't looking at the map, which she was not thrilled about lol. The bubble tea was good and there were so many super flashily dressed people there. But they only had caffeinated options which is why I'm now up at 12:40 writing this, oops.
We also walked by a pub called Duke of Argyll, which is where the Scottish part of my family is from.
Afterward, we walked through Chinatown, which was absolutely enchanting. My friend C is from Shanghai, and I really like food from places all over China, so we were both excited.
We ended up sitting outside at See Woo, a dim-sum restaurant that had mapo tofu, which I name as my favorite food in the world. That's also one of the first things she and I ever talked about when we were becoming friends. We both want to learn Cantonese and she suggested we take it together.
I took the train up and got home a bit after 9. I continued my multiplayer Terraria game with my stepbrother H for a couple hours, and now I'm here. And I think I might finally be ready to go to sleep.
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The Weekend That Was #3 (NDP Rehearsals + American Football Concert!)
Friday night
After work, K and I met up to go to Dhoby Ghaut and pick up the swimsuits I bought online. When we got there he got a call from the office that he needs to go back because he's the only one who has the key and they need to close up the office. So we went back to Telok Ayer and had dinner at Saizeriya in Chinatown. I also bought a shit ton of chocolates at Value Dollar in preparation for my trip back home. When we got home, I wasn't really sleepy yet so I bugged K to stay up and hang out with me. I didn't really do much except work on nihongo homework and do more online shopping. Good times.
Saturday
I woke up pretty late today. Upon waking up, K and I loaded up the laundry, and I opened my laptop (this is considered a rare event now). I had some motivation to work on a Skillshare class about animating SVGs! Time flew by really fast and I ended up with only 3 icons by 4pm.
Here's the actual SVG animation on codepen.
After finishing these 3 icons, K and I hung around at the pool since it's such a nice day.
Around 6pm we went out to shower and headed out to catch the last NDP rehearsal. We got there about 30 minutes early so it was just perfect because we got to pick a good spot and we didn't have to wait very long.
It was awesome! We suddenly remembered last year when we watched this from the Peninsula hotel. My mom was still living here that time.
By the time the fireworks are finished, we were famished. I wanted to try out Swee Choon Tim Sum to see if the hype is justified, so off to Jalan Besar we go. Conclusion: the hype IS justified. Everything we got was so good.
The damage for 2 people is about 30-40 sgd. It wasn't exactly cheap. When we computed it I suddenly realised that I have made it big in life because I was able to go to a restaurant and order a bunch of stuff without checking the freakin' prices. This moment is what I've been working for my entire working life. The food was all worth it.
My favorite is the mee sua kueh (1st picture on the second row above), which is basically like fried cake but made out of noodles. The crispy texture is so nice and the inside is so soft and flavorful. I can probably eat 2 plates of this, but I probably shouldn't. The sichuan wonton and salted egg custard bun were phenomenal too. I can see myself going back here.
After dinner we walked around Jalan Besar and settled on a little coffee shop. K and I ordered Japanese lattƩs (matcha for him, hojicha for me) and I finished the book I was reading (Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell) and started a new one (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong).
At around 11pm, we headed back home. Today was a top-notch weekend day. We need more weekends in our lives.
Sunday
Woke up late again today! Actually, K just woke me up to let me know that he's going out to get a haircut. I laid in bed for about an hour before getting my ass to the gym. I'm happy to report that I'm still 50 kg! In spite of not going to the gym for weeks and eating on slight caloric surplus. It was a good gym session because I managed to do 30 mins on the treadmill, and 10 mins workout each for my arms, abs, and thighs. At about 12:30pm, I went back up to our flat and we cooked chicken pastel. I think it turned out pretty well! But we were running out of time so after eating we immediately showered and booked a gojek to our nihongo class. The class went pretty well too. We learned ćć¦ććć¾ć and we taught our sensei 'weighing scale'. He also taught us ć²ććć¹ćć«ć¼ which means glow-in-the-dark stickers apparently. After class I looked around for possible pasalubong. I ended up buying myself a cookie from Ben's Cookies. It was alright. Nothing worth 3 bucks.
After that, we went to Telok Ayer for the American Football concert! We were second in line lmao so uncool. But we were standing so close to the front stage so suck it, cool kids. American Football was so good! I get chills whenever I hear the lyre(?), and sometimes the transition between songs using the tambourine(?) is beautiful. The guys did look visibly tired. Turns out they've been performing for 4 nights straight in different cities before Singapore. I still consider myself lucky I got to hear Heir Apparent and Every Wave to Ever Rise live. We went home tired but happy.
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Hi! I'm going to the concert for gorillaz in September but I want to ask for advice, what should I expect when I'm there? Should I bring something with me? Like extra money? Also how long was the concert? I have to take a ferry back to where I live so I'm scared if I need to book a hotel or not. Thank you for taking your time to read this! From a very excited concert goer.
Oh hey anon! I hope you have tons of fun when September rolls around~ Anyway, this was my first concert experience and I was VIP so my experience may be a little different than yours since we sorta got first dibs on stuff and the floor but Iāll help you as best as I can.Ā
(Itās under a cut because it got a little long! Sorry about that ^^;)
From this experience, I would say expect the best. Last night was amazing and I am now a changed person because of it haha~ I had tons of fun and the energy being traded back and forth between the fans and the band was truly a religious experience for me. Damon was also a huge delight and I honestly think I will remember this concert as one of the best nights of my life :)
Anyway, I would say depending on how passionate you think Gorillaz fans are in your area, judge how early you should come. Me and my sis went about an hour early before the doors opened for VIP because we didnāt mind not being first in line but wanted to still be in a place in line that wasnāt too far behind (since we wanted to be in the very front). If youāre in seats I donāt think you have much to worry about since your place is set and you just have to worry about time to buy merch and getting into the venue in time. You should also expect the people to be super chill too but thereāll always be a few aggressive fans that will be there and that you should steer clear of.
In terms of stuff you should bring, always be aware what the venue will allow and what type of venue it is. Iām not sure about outdoors but indoors you probably want to carry a small bag to carry things if you buy merch and to bring water. I would also recommend extra money in case you want to buy food and also because if youāre into merch, it runs kinda expensive... (There was this navy hoodie with the bands name across the chest I really wanted to buy but I didnāt have enough money... Itās American equivalent I think is $60 since it was $80 CAD but Iām regretting it so much and currently searching for someone to buy it for me and Iāll pay them back since you canāt buy it online... So please if anyone is reading this... Help a poor soul out ;w;)Ā
Again, the concert itself was amazing. The opening act here started at 8pm but the Gorillaz didnāt start until 9pm and I think they played for a little under 2 hours since we got an encore. So depending on the time your concert starts and ends, you may or may not need to book a hotel I guess.
Ummm, I think thatās all that I can offer based on your questions. If you have anymore questions please donāt be shy to ask because I remember being anxious about this concert too since I didnāt know much.
I hope your concert experience will be just as amazing as mine!~Ā (You better come back after september and tell me if you had a great time since I wanna hear all about it ;3)
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NOTE: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I'm off to do some spooktacular writing at a NaNoWriMo event, but thought I would do some updating first. Hope you all have a spine-chilling evening!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ~ x JUDGMENT x ~
Sae Niijima was silent for a few long, painfully quiet seconds as Makoto's voice faded out in the small interrogation room. Staring across at her sister uncomfortably, hand at her chin as she mulled over the entirety of this situation.
"What?" Makoto finally asked.
"The way you described thatā¦" Her eyes lowered. They were flinty and her tone harsh, but the words themselves vulnerable if listened to closely enough. "I think I've robbed you of a normal home environment. That might be why you're going down this path."
"And what 'path' is that?" She folded her hands on the table, sitting up straight. "The wrong one?"
"Yes. And no. Justā¦ a more difficult one than I would have chosen for my baby sister."
The student council president's eyes darkened. "I'm not a baby."
"That wasn't what I meant and you know it."
"Maybe not. But it's how you've always treated me. I used to buy into that, you know; used to accept that I was a burden on you. But it's not true, is it? Because I do as much for our household as you do at my present status. Going to school is my job, and I'm great at it."
Teeth clenching, she fired back at her, "But it isn't a job that contributes to our household right now. Even if I may have been harsh with you, I need you to understand how difficult my life is, andĀ whyĀ I let it drain me as much as I do. You think I want to be a public prosecutor because it's 'fun'? This isĀ hard work,Ā Makoto."
"Of course," she sighed wearily. "And I know that already. You don't have to shove it in my face every few days so I don't forget."
"That'sā¦ not whatā¦" Sae turned away, staring into the corner. "Fine. So you're a lesbian now, hm? That easy? One little crush moment and you make up your mind to-"
"I don't want to hear that fromĀ you," she fired at her hotly. "No, this is not something I 'decided'. You taught me it doesn't work that way, and I'm not trying to make it work that way for me. Just figuring myself out."
Waving her hands, she said, "Alright, alright. Enough about that for now. You're honestly telling me that you and Sadayo Kawakami never had sexual relations in thatĀ love hotel room?Ā How am I supposed to actually believe that?"
Makoto sighed, all the ire leaving her expression as she slumped down in her chair. "Because I'm your sister. But maybe you can't trust me anymore, Sis. I don't know."
"Well, you must see how it looks. And I would prefer to trust you thanĀ notĀ to trust you, but you have made that quite a bit more difficult than it was before I found out more than I bargained for."
"Right. About thatā¦ I guess you're still waiting for me to get you caught up, aren't you? I might as wellā¦"
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ~ x The Priestess x ~
Miss Kawakami left Hotel Juliet not long after that. I insisted several times that she should take the extra Ā„1000 for all the trouble, even if not for the foot rub, but she refused very firmly. Despite how much she needed the money, it seemed she still wanted toĀ earnĀ every last yen. Which is just the kind of person she was.
No, I did not purchase her stockings. Why would anyone do that?
So now we had a problem. I knew a secret about her, and she knew one about me. Granted, neither of us was the type of person who would use it for blackmail purposes, but it still made us responsible for keeping each other's secret under wraps. it was going to make interacting with each other very interesting from then on.
But before that, I had something else to follow up with. Or should I say, someoneĀ else.
"How'd it go?!" Ann demanded the moment the phone line connected. "C'mon, gimme those deets!"
"Not here," I whispered. "Meet me at theĀ Ore No BekoĀ - the beef bowl place, on Central Street?"
"Mkay, I'll see you there!"
The walk wasn't terribly far. I felt stupid leaving the love hotel in my "guy" costume, so I ducked into an alley and stowed the rest in the shoulder bag I brought along exactly for that reason. The chest bindings were still annoying but I would just have to put up with them until I went to the bathroom again.
Not long after that, Ann showed up. Even despite the late hour, there she was. I began to feel really lucky that we had become that close in such a short period of time.
"Hey, girl," she called excitedly as she pushed through the crowd over to my corner. Now she was wearing a red varsity jacket over a blue button-up with a white skirt. Three guesses whether she looked cute wearing it. Go on, guess.
"Hi."
As she bounced into the seat next to me, I moved my tea out of the way. "Hoowee!Ā I ran all the way to the train, and then all the way here from the station!"
"That sounds like you," I chuckled in a quiet voice.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so. There's hot gossip, right?" Something must have shown in my face, because she leaned a little closer. "Heyā¦ Mako-chan, what's the matter?"
"We should order. And then I'll tell you everything."
We ordered. And then I told her everything - well, everything except the teacher's identity and details that would expose that on accident. Luckily, Beko only seemed to get busier at night instead of emptier, so nobody could really pay attention to our conversation over all the noise. Or wanted to, I'm sure.
Amazingly enough, Ann took it pretty well. She just sat there and nodded, listening and glancing away. Wellā¦ at least IĀ thoughtĀ she was taking it well. What if she just couldn't hear me?
"Coolā¦ um, you think you might be gay?"
So much for her not listening. "No idea," I sighed - then we paused while the bowls were sat in front of us. They smelled amazing, and we both inhaled the savoury aroma of the seasoned meat deeply before we broke our wooden chopsticks apart and dug in. Ann had opted to forego the egg - which I know is because she's trying to watch her figure for modelling - but I felt like I needed it after the night I had. Comfort food.
"Hmmhggh," she sighed a couple of minutes later, once our bellies were half-full of rice and beef and onion. "Geeze Louise, that really hit the spot!"
My lips twitched into a smile. "What is 'geeze Louise'? I don't know that one."
"Just something from the States." Stirring her bowl and staring into its depths, she began, "Soā¦"
"So?"
"Wellā¦ you're into this teacher now."
"Hey, I am not," I tried to head her off. "Wellā¦ not for sure. But she is pretty, and umā¦ and I liked talking to her woman-to-woman, once we got past all theā¦ other stuff."
Smirking as she leaned closer, she muttered, "SheĀ bathedĀ you, huh? That's a lot of 'other stuff'. Plus that sexy footrub!"
"Since when are footrubs 'sexy'?!"
"C'mon," she chuckled as she took a sip of her aloe drink - another healthy choice. Made me feel really self-conscious about my melon soda, but at least I had some tea before she got there. "Footrubs are like, the truest expression of love, right? Anybody can kiss a cute girl or boy on the lips, but saying 'I like you so much I'm gonna touch your stinky feet to make you feel better' is justā¦ the real shit! Totes selfless! Right?!"
Laughing weakly, I focused on my beef for a second or two, purely to avoid thinking too hard about whether or not she was right. Because if she wasā¦ a lot of the comments Kawakami made during and after the massage were even more telling than I thought. Which was bad.
Mistaking my silence for sadness, she sighed and put down her chopsticks. "Hey, I'm sorry. You're freaking out, right? I'd be freaking out."
"Wellā¦ it's a quiet freak-out."
"Uh-huh. Umā¦ you said you don't know if this is just a weird thing or if it's really who you are. And like, I know in Japan it's 'weird' to like other girls, but it's not like that in the West! Like, what's her name? The one who was the spacy Disney fishā¦ man, I can't remember right now. But she's a big gay icon, and she's had a wife for years! So it's like,Ā realĀ there, not a little kid thing."
I absorbed that as best I could through the filter of Ann's bubbly personality and meandering thought processes. "Yeah. Problem is, IĀ amĀ in Japan. Not over there. And here, people are going to think I'm either immature, or a pervert."
"I don't think you're a pervert." When I glanced over at her, those baby blues were burning holes right through me as she smiled. "You did this whole thing just to make sure she wasn't hurting that student, and to make sure she wasn't being hurt, either. Just because you ended up crushing on herā¦ it's not a bad thing."
"No?" Screwing up my courage, or what I could find of it, I asked her, "You're notā¦ uncomfortable?"
"Huh? No way! I mean, it's not like I had to watch you two or whatever."
"I meant sitting next to me. Knowing I might like girls."
"Oh." Her eyes glanced up and down. "Wellā¦ you might be a lesbian, but you're not a creep. Not all guys are Kamoshida, right? This is the same thing." Then she laughed and waved a hand back and forth as she added, "N-not that I'm saying all other lesbians are creeps! Probably none of 'em are! Like, I meant the opposite!"
"Okay, calm down," I chuckled, bumping her with my elbow. It worked; she relaxed a little, cheeks a tiny bit rosy. "But, umā¦ thanks, Ann. Really. I can't even believe this is happening to me, andā¦ I'm really relieved you're not upset that I'mā¦ different."
Suddenly my face was being yanked around to look at her, so she was sandwiching my cheeks between both of her hands. "Mako-chan. Did you forget what ourĀ after school jobĀ is? Like, you wanting to make out with one of your teachers ain't that crazy."
"Annā¦" It must have been the relief in my voice, because she gulped. "Hm?"
"Oohā¦ okay, it does makeĀ thatĀ sound a little different, though," she said nervously as she let go of my face. "Never had a gay girl say my name like that."
"I didn't say I was gay for certain!" I hissed at her. "Would you let me figure this out on my own?!"
Her head was already tilting thoughtfully. "Do you think that's what it's going to be what it's like when a boy finally asks me out, and he says my name as we stare into each other's eyes under the moonlight?"
"I'm not a boy!"
"You were for a few hours. And you still have no boobs right now!"
"ANN!"
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ~ o ~
By the time we had polished off our food and exited the restaurant, the topic of my burgeoning sexuality had gotten a little old. So we went back to discussing Miss Kawakami. The warm night combined with the warm food in our stomachs made us yearn for the cool underground of the subway station as we chattered back and forth.
"I wish I knew who it was," Ann sighed. "Especiallyā¦ like, I keep wanting to guess. I stopped myself from doing it at least six times."
"Who would you guess?" I asked curiously as we jogged down the stairs. "I'm granting you permission now."
"Huh? Oh, umā¦ well, I really can only think of Miss Chouno and Miss Kawakami. I don't think many of the other teachers could pull off a maid costume at all."
"O-oh?" I gasped, uncomfortable at how close she was.
"Wellā¦ Ms. Usami might be pretty cute behind those glasses. And with that wig you mentioned. Kinda hard to tell."
Relaxing just the tiniest bit, I said, "Okay. I was just curious who you would guess; I still promised not to tell anybody. Even though if I was going to tell, it would be you."
That might have been the biggest smile I ever saw on Ann Takamaki's face. And she regularly smiled bright enough to put the sun to shame.
"Thing is," she finally said as we waited for the train, "I still have no idea what to tell you. How are you supposed to actually go out with her if she's your teacher? I mean, in half a year you could ask her out for real; she wouldn't beĀ yourĀ teacher anymore once you're off to university. Right?"
My eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Wow, I hadn't evenā¦ thought about that." Then I deflated, staring down at the dirty platform. "But isn't it still a littleā¦ unpleasant? Some eighteen-year-old crawling all over an adult?"
"I doubt you would 'crawl' on her like that," Ann laughed. "But I get what you mean. Justā¦ I know this is some huge, brand new thing. You're still figuring it out. But if she ends up making you happy, thenā¦ you owe it to yourself to go for it! Don't let anybody tell you what you need besides your own heart!"
"Ann," I laughed. But the earnestness in her expression stopped me short. "Annā¦ you really think that? I should date my teacher?"
"Not 'your teacher'. You should dateā¦ Becky. Or whatever Becky's real name is - you don't have to tell me. But if you ever feel like you n-"
My hand pressed into her mouth. "Stop, stop. Thank you. But yeah, I guess I have a lot of thinking to do. What am I going to do about this situation with her working herself to death for those two awful people? That on top of me being attracted to her isā¦ the whole thing is a mess."
"UGH! I wish I knew who it was - my advice would be better!" When I glared, she held up a hand, eyes closed. "Don't tell me. That wasn't me trying to get you to cave, just being frustrated that I can't help more."
"Sure, sure." Suddenly, I threw my arms around her. I wasn't used to doing that, but maybe it was time I started putting in more effort in that regard. "Thanks, Ann. You're an incredible friend."
After only a brief hesitation, she hugged back. "Hey, it's okay. I got you." There was no holding back because I might be gay, no jokes. Just firm acceptance. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ~ x JUDGMENT x ~
"Well, that is wonderful to hear," Sae sighed wearily, rubbing her temples. "But having a supportive friend doesn't answer the question at hand. We're supposed to be talking about the nature of your relationship with Sadayo Kawakami. If all you did was rub her feet once, then I suppose I can overlook any allegations of misconduct with a student under her care."
The younger Niijima shifted in her seat, trying to abate her tension and discomfort. "I was hoping you would do that anyway. As a favour to me."
"You know I can't do that. The law is the law, and youĀ areĀ one of her students. Even if you're old enough to decide for yourself who you date."
"I am?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"Yes. I might be your legal guardian, butā¦" With a helpless shrug, she added, "All I can do is tell you it's unwise. After that, the choice is all yours."
"Dating women, or dating Sadayo?"
"Both. Unwise specifically because she's so much older than you, but also because she is a sex worker.Ā Regardless,"Ā she rushed ahead when she saw Makoto was about to protest, "of whether or not her sexual activities in her job as Delivery Health maid are minimal, and rarely utilised. It's still not nothing, and you could wind up with an infection. You're my responsibility, and that includes making sure you don't get sick."
"Wellā¦" Dipping her head, she admitted, "You have a point. And I do appreciate you looking out for me, Sis. But I would put my love for someone before any worry about risks like that. Not saying I 'love' Sadayo; just clarifying my priorities."
Sae picked up her pen and began clicking over and over. Just a nervous tick to help distract herself from being unduly upset. "Fine, fine. I suppose that'sā¦ admirable, in a foolish way. But as interesting as it is, I don't know why you bothered telling me about this conversation with Takamaki."
The truth was, she was jealous of the blonde. Ann got to freely and openly offer Makoto her support in a way Sae never could; she didn't get to be the 'big sister' anymore. Now she had to be her parent, until such a time as Makoto grew up and left the house - entered the workforce of Japan for real. Even then, she would probably always have to look out for her best interests for the rest of her life.
"It will be important later. Andā¦ I'm sorry."
Sae's eyebrow went up. "Sorry? For what?"
"That I can't simply let you believe all I've done with Sadayo is letting her bathe me and paying her back with a massage," she went on in a near-silent voice. "There's definitely more, and I promised you the whole story. So yeah, sorry about this in advance, butā¦ I have to keep going."
Heart sinking down into the floor, she whispered, "Very well. Continue."
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā To Be Continuedā¦
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